One-piece plastic semi-articulated self-spring hinge



Aug. 16, 1966 J. B. CHAMPLIN 3,266,859

ONE-PIECE PLASTIC SEMI-ARTICULATED SELF-SPRING HINGE Filed Dec. 7, 1964IIIIIIIIIII'IIII I I N VEN TOR.

JAMES B. CHAMPLIN BY dh ATTORNEY r 3,266,859 Ice Patented Aug 1966 IowaFiled Dec. 7, 1964, Ser. No. 416,359 Claims. (Cl. 312-323) In the designof electronic cabinets and other enclosures, it is frequently necessaryto provide a folddown or removable access panel or cover. Due to thethickness of the cover, it has normally been necessary to use amultipiece articulated hinge or to provide a pivot point well ahead ofthe outside surface. These solutions present drawbacks in aestheticappearance, cost and removability.

The present invention relates to a one-piece plastic semiarticulatedhinge which is small, light weight, inexpensive and simple, which iseasy to mount and easily concealed behind the panel trim.

It is an object of this invention to provide an inexpensive, simpleone-piece hinge.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved hinge.

A feature of this invention is found in the provision for a one-piecehinge of plastic material of an improved design.

Further features, objects, and advantages "of this invention will becomeapparent from the following description and claims when read in view ofthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of the hinge of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view of the hinge of this invention with the doorpartially open;

FIGURE 3 is a view of the hinge of this invention with the door open;

FIGURE 4 illustrates the method in which the door can be completelyremoved from the cabinet;

FIGURE 5 illustrates the spring action in the hinge when the door isclosed; and,

FIGURE 6 is an end view of the hinge.

FIGURE 1 illustrates a case 10 which has top wall 11 and bottom wall 112to which a cover 13 is to be pivotally attached. The cover v13 has anextending lip 14 and a pair of hinges 16 according to this invention areattached to opposite sides of the cover by pivot pins '17. A latchattaches the upper end of the cover to the wall .11 and might comprise afirst magnetic member 18 of one polarity attached to the wall 11 and asecond magnetic member 19 of opposite polarity attached to the lip 21 ofthe cover 113. An adjacent cabinet 22 is shown below the cabinet 10.

As shown in FIGURE 2, a front wall .23 of case 10 extends outwardly fromwalls 11 and i112. Front wall 23 might extend only partially out fromeither side of the cabinet 10 so as to leave an opening in the front ofthe cabinet. Slots 24 are formed through the wall 23 adjacent the sidewalls and hinges .16 extend therethrough. Hinge 16 has a first pivotedportion 26 through which pivot pin 17 extends to attach the hinge tocover '13. The hinge has a main body portion 27 which extends throughthe slot -24 in the Wall 23. A slot 28 is formed in the main bodyportion 27 to form an upper guide arm 29 and a latch :31. The latch 31is relatively larger and longer than arm 29. A guide pin 32 is attachedto the side wall of the cabinet 10 and is received in the slot "28 whenthe hinge is in the closed position. A notch 33 is formed on the bottomportion of the latch relative to FIGURE 2 so as to engage the edge 34 ofthe wall 23 adjacent the slot 24.

FIGURE 3 illustrates the hinge with the door in the open position and itis to be noted that the door and the hinge may be moved to the rightrelative to the figure until the notch 33 engages the wall 23. At thispoint the door 13 may be pivoted to the position shown and no bindingoccurs between the door 13 and the adjoining cabinet 22. The notch 33prevents the hinge and door from falling from the cabinet.

At times it may be desirable to remove the door completely and this maybe accomplished as shown in FIG- URE 4. With the door in the positionshown in FIG- URE 4, the hinge may be pushed upwardly to deflect the arm29 upwardly thus freeing the notch 33 from the edge 34 of the wall 26 soas to allow the hinge and door to be removed completely from thecabinet. It is to be noted that this will not occur accidentally due tothe flexure in portion 29 which will normally hold the notch 33 againstthe edge 34. The arm 29 is shorter than latch portion '31.

FIGURE 5 illustrates that the hinge is deformed when the door is closedwhich exerts a torque on the door clockwise relative to FIGURE 5. Thisis because of the engagement of the lip 14 with the portion 36 of thehinge to deform it as the door is closed and latched. The also causesbending in the main body portion 27 of the hinge 16 causing the latchportion 31 and portion 29 to move upwardly about the pin 32. This torqueeliminates rattling of the door due to vibrations in that the hinge willbe biasing the door to the open position to hold it against the latch.The latch is, of course, strong enough to hold the door closed. Althougha magnetic latch is shown, it is to be realized that any conventionallatch such as a spring type may be used to close the door.

The hinges on either side of the door are similar and only one is shownfor purposes of illustration. The hinges may be made of any one of many(flexible materials and in one hinge an acetal copolymer such as thetrade-mark products Celcon and lDelrin have been used. The bending andflexible qualities of these materials give sufiicient spring tension andstrength for hinges of this type.

It is seen that this invention provides a novel hinge and although ithas been described with respect to a particular embodiment thereof, itis not to be so limited, as changes and modifications may be madetherein which are within the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A flexible hinge comprising a cabinet and a cover member, the cabinetformed with a front wall which has a slot formed therethrough, a hingewith a first portion pivotally attached to the cover member and formedwith an elongated powrtion which extends through the slot, a slot formedin the elongated portion, a retaining pin attached to the cabinet andreceived through the slot in the elongated portion, and said hinge anddoor movable away from the cabinet so as to allow the door to pivotabout its pivot support to a full open position.

2. A hinge for attaching a cover to a container comprising a portion ofsaid hinge pivotally attached to the cover, a main body portion of thelatch extending from the pivoted portion, a slot formed in the containerthrough which the main body portion of the hinge extends, limiting meansfor allowing the main body portion of the hinge to move relative to theslot but to limit its motion within pre-determined limits, a slot formedwithin said main body portion so as to divide the main body portionwithin the container into a small portion and a latch portion and aguide pin attached to the container and extending through the slotformed in the main body portion.

3. A hinge for attaching a cover to a container comprising a portion ofsaid hinge pivotally attached to the cover, a main body portion of thelatch extending from the pivoted portion, a slot formed in the containerthrough which the main body portion of the hinge extends, limiting meansfor allowing the main body portion of the hinge to move relative to theslot but to limit its motion within pre-determined limits comprising aslot formed within said main body portion so as to divide the main bodyportion within the container into a small portion and a lat-ch portion,a guide pin attached to the container and extending through the slotformed in the main body portion, and the latch portion formed with a lipalong its bottom edge so as to engage the container and limit the motionbetween the hinge and the container.

4. A hinge for attaching a cover to a container comprising a downwardlyextending portion of said hinge pivotally attached to the cover, a mainbody portion of the latch extending transversely of the pivoted portion,a slot formed in the container through which the main body portion ofthe hinge extends, limiting means for allowing the main body portion ofthe hinge to move relative to the slot but to limit its motion withinpre-determine-d limits, a slot formed in said main body portion so as todivide the main body portion into a small arm and a latch portion, aguide pin attached to the container and extending through the slotformed in the main body portion, the latch portion formed with a notchin its bottom edge so as to engage and limit the motion between thehinge and the container, and said hinge being formed from a flexiblematerial such that the hinge may be deflected upwardly to free the notchfrom the container.

5. A hinge for attaching a cover to a container comprising a downwardlyextending portion of said hinge 4 pivotally attached to the cover, amain body portion of the latch extending transversely of the pivotedportion, a slot formed in the container through which the main bodyportion of the hinge extends, limiting means for allowing the main bodyportion of the hinge to move relative to the slot but to limit itsmotion within pre-determined limits, a slot formed in said main bodyportion so as to divide the main body portion within the container to asmall arm and a latch portion, a guide pin attached to the container andextending through the slot formed in the main body portion, a notchformed along the bottom of the latch portion to engage and limit themotion between the hinge and the container, said hinge being formed offlexible material such that the hinge may be deflected upwardly to freethe latch from the container, said arm clearing the guide pin when thelatch is in engagement with the container such that the hinge may bedeflected upwardly to free the latch from the container to allow thehinge to be removed completely from the container.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,780,219 2/1957Pollock 126-194 FOREIGN PATENTS 915,328 7/1946 France. 1,187,364 3/1959France.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Examiner.

F. DOMOTOR, Assistant Examiner.

1. A FLEXIBLE HINGE COMPRISING A CABINET AND A COVER MEMBER, THE CABINETFORMED WITH A FRONT WALL WHICH HAS A SLOT FORMED THERETHROUGH, A HINGEWITH A FIRST PORTION PIVOTALLY ATTACHED TO THE COVER MEMBER AND FORMEDWITH AN ELONGATED PORTION WHICH EXTENDS THROUGH THE SLOT, A SLOT FORMEDIN THE ELONGATED PORTION, A RETAINING PIN AT-